An ad for South Korea's largest milk brand seemed to hint that women are cows.
Seoul (CNN) -
South Korea's largest dairy company, Seoul Milk, has apologized after publishing a controversial ad in which, according to some critics, women are characterized as cows.
"We sincerely apologize to those who have been made uncomfortable by the advertising video about milk uploaded to Seoul Milk's official YouTube channel on the 29th of last month," Seoul Milk's parent company Seoul Dairy Cooperative said in a statement published in its official website on December 8.
The announcement provoked a negative reaction from the public and sparked a debate about sexism in the country.
Some social media users also said he justified secretly recording women, a crime known as "molka" that has become a widespread problem in South Korea in recent years.
Some said the video promoted the practice of secretly recording women.
The video, now removed, shows a man carrying a camera strolling through the countryside somewhere in Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon province.
"Epidemic" of spy cameras recording thousands of women in public toilets or their homes in South Korea
A voice-over narrates: "We finally managed to capture his images in a place where nature has been kept clean."
He then comes to a stream, where women dressed in white drink water and stretch in a meadow.
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The male voice continues: "We decided to approach them cautiously, who are drinking clean water from nature, eating organic food and living peacefully in pleasant surroundings."
When the man approaches people, he accidentally steps on a twig, alerting the group, which transforms into cows.
When the ad ran, social media users flocked to YouTube, leaving comments like "I disgust" or "This is too much," according to CNN affiliate JTBC.
Seoul Milk insisted that there were also men in the video, but they were not recognizable, JTBC reported.
The group, apparently of women, was transformed into cows.
At first, Seoul Milk said the ad had been received differently than it was intended, adding that the company wanted to focus on the organic origins of its product.
The company insisted that it did not intend to portray women as cows, as some users had suggested.
However, the company later deleted the video so as not to cause further inconvenience, JTBC reported.
"We take this matter very seriously, and we will pay more attention and review to avoid similar problems in the future," the company said in its apology.
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